The slow but steady rise in popularity of the Toyota Prius has created a positive association for automakers with the word “hybrid” and prompted many competitors to launch competing vehicles. Derivatives of the full hybrid, which can propel the vehicle for short distances on electric vehicles alone, that offer a percentage of the reductions in fuel consumption and (more…)

One of the common hurdles green brand owners have to overcome to protect their brands is U.S. trademark law’s proscription against registration of marks that are “merely descriptive” of the goods or services.

The rationale for this rule is that registering a generic or descriptive term would restrict (more…)

Scheduled for a 2012 release date, the V60 is the first diesel plug-in hybrid electric vehicle in the world.

According to Technologic Vehicles, the V60 features three driving modes: Pure (electric only), Hybrid (default mode) and Power, when the engines act together.

It also features a four-wheel drive mode: at (more…)

As the electric vehicle market expands, the biggest names in automobile manufacturing are drawn towards adapting some of their latest models to the plug instead of gasoline. While Japan has had little issue with creating entire lines of hybrid and electric vehicles, some of (more…)

Strangely enough Edison had one of the first electric vehicles and Detroit made them until World War II. Then they died until in the 1990s some electric battery driven cars were recreated as something brand new to the marketplace. Then they withered and were reborn again in the (more…)

(Reuters) – Italy’s Piaggio is preparing to launch a small city three-person, four-wheel car, including a hybrid-powered version, for use in Asian and European cities to overcome traffic congestion, its Chairman Roberto (more…)

Capitalizing on the success of its Prius hybrid, Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, has announced that it will introduce six new hybrid models by the end of 2012. Toyota, whose Prius is the top-selling car in Japan, is stepping up its competition in the growing green vehicle market by introducing two hybrid versions of its luxury Lexus brand and four new Toyota (more…)

In recent analysis of vehicle sales by segment, the differences between traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle sales and hybrid (HEV) sales show that hybrids are not competitive in several key segments within the U.S. The small car segment accounts for 20% of U.S. sales, but only accounts for 12% of HEV sales (with only 2 models available). While the (more…)

Top News: This week, President Obama startled both his allies and critics with a plan to permit drilling for oil off the Southern Atlantic states and in the Gulf of Mexico. Meanwhile the Secret Service, in a stroke of karmic justice, denied the president’s request for a hybrid limo.

On Saturday, Apple’s long-awaited iPad emerged to great fanfare, and with it some schwag and a initial smattering of green apps.

Wising Up to the Smart Grid: After years of talk and speculation, several big U.S. companies revealed that the smart grid lies at the center of their business plans. At the New York Auto Show, Ford and Microsoft announced energy-management software designed for the thousands of people who will plug in their electric cars or hybrids at home. Connecticut Light & Power applied for permission to scrap its flat-rate price structure in favor of one that penalizes customers for overloading the grid. Under the proposal, Connecticut electricity would be ten times cheaper at night than it would be in the middle of the day, when the A/C units are cranking.

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The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year was awesome and grandiose as always. As I scoped out the latest in tech madness, I was assaulted by a sensory overload of 3-D screen enablers, perceptive sensors, gaming devices for a lazier and racier audience and phones that promise to be smarter than ever before. The general trend in every category seems to be hybrid super gadgets that perform multiple functions like smartbooks which function as smartphones and netbooks that are also e-book readers, smart TVs that display websites, mobile TVs for cars and phones, and so forth.

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